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Even trained messengers must be on their guard with these monsters about. Sorcerers and Dragons both originated in the world of Kingston. They made their way to Yakived during the Great Desolation. Great changes to climate and leadership brought such danger that fear itself made a gateway between worlds that remained open for all. Creatures, humans and monsters alike all made their way to Kingston, where things were safe. Smaller predators were destroyed because of all the extra predators from Kingston. Jaguars were big enough that they did not have that problem. The Jaguars of Yakived are one of the largest carnivores in the world. They can weigh as much as a ton and stand taller than most houses. Unlike the Jaguars of Earth, Jaguars on Yakived communicate through speech. They have more in common with humans than with other large cats and often make their dens near human settlements. Records show that the Jaguars have even adopted humans and taken them into the pack. ~*~ Jaguar Short Story: Sakura and Rormic were so immersed with the little Kudomis' dance that they did not even notice a giant jaguar walk near them. A deep growl sounded behind the two youths; making them jump. Sakura let out a small scream when she saw the growl's source. The jaguar's teeth showed in long, sharp rows and the two children could not help but be afraid. "How dare you disturb the forest god's pool?" "We're sorry! We're sorry!" Rormic swore quickly. "We are just looking for the Great Warrior. We want to help." Sakura could only nod. Fear paralyzed her from doing anything else. The jaguar, though, moved quickly at Rormic's words. The wild animal leaped from one side of the green peninsula to the next. "Follow me if you really want to join him." The jaguar's deep voice echoed through space even as Sakura and Rormic turned to follow. After several hours of walking, both Sakura and Rormic have turned around. They had no idea where they were. It did not take them long to realize that the jaguar had meant for them to be confused. A young woman in a jaguar pelt came out of hiding behind the dense trees. "You want to trespass through the forest and meet the Great Warrior?" The woman sneered at the two children but they simply nodded as an answer to her questions. "You expect me to trust you? Well, I don't! Too many people have lied to me!" The woman motioned to her jaguar brothers and said, "Bring them to where we can watch them. No one can see Timazaki until I can trust them. These two could be some of the Emperor's body hunters." The two youths exchanged questioning glances but followed the two large jaguars to a group of oddly angled rocks in the middle of the forest. "It is so cramped in here," he complained to Sakura for the hundredth time. The two of them had been basically trapped in this cave for several days. The two large jaguars stood outside of the cave entrance and watched them night and day. The giant cats scared them both but Sakura was not sure how much longer Rormic could last in the cave. They both needed out of the cave but they also needed to see the Great Warrior. The only way they can see him is to stay here and wait for the girl who rode on the backs of the jaguars. Sakura had waited as patiently as she could in the cave for days now and she could not take much longer without knowing that she was getting any closer to her goal. She slowly walked up to the cave's entrance. She was still several feet from the cave opening when she called out, "Hello?" The head of one of the jaguars turned into the opening so that the nose almost touched Sakura. Fear tugged at Sakura and seemed to steal her voice but she managed to say, "I just wanted to know how much longer we will be in here…" "Be grateful that we have not eaten you, human. Our sister will choose if and when to bring you to the Warrior." The jaguar growled out the words in a deep voice that matched his body and Sakura felt the fear rise within her. She turned around to walk back to the end of the cave but she saw Rormic and guilt dulled out all other emotions. "My friend is claustrophobic. He needs to get out even if it is not to see the Warrior." Sakura gestured to Rormic and tried to move to the side in the narrow space to allow the jaguar to see him in the back. The jaguar snorted and turned his back to Sakura yet again before speaking softly to his brother. Sakura struggled to hear what was being said and almost fell over when the large jaguar spoke out loud: "Follow me." Sakura helped Rormic to his feet and prayed that they were just taking the two of them out for air. Rormic's mood lightened as soon as they made it out of the cave. He literally breathed a sigh of relief and walked with his back straight – as if a great pressure had been lifted from his shoulders. He and Sakura followed the two jaguars until they made it to a pool with crystal clear water. The two jaguar guards stopped in front of the water. A deep growl sounded from one of the jaguars' throats. "Well," The jaguar began. "Your friend will not be claustrophobic out here." "I see no reason why the two of you cannot be allowed to come out here as long as no escape attempts are made," the second jaguar chimed in with an equally deep voice to the first. Rormic began to run in circles in the field immediately. "Thank you," Sakura told them as she watched Rormic smile for the first time in days. It was obvious that Rormic would be occupied for hours just by running. Sakura wanted something else to amuse her. The crystal water looked more than inviting. She walked up to the water's edge and gazed in. The pool looked quite deep. Still, a little swim in deep water would not hurt. She stuck her toe into the water and jumped about a foot into the air. The temperature of the water did not startle her – everything about the water seemed perfect – it would take something much more terrifying to do that. "Hey!" One of the jaguars barked. "Get away from the water. Your fowl human flesh is not worthy of such an honor!" Sakura immediately backed away from the water. The growl of the jaguars would have startled anyone. She never went near the water of the pool again. Instead, she spent her time playing tag with Rormic and cloud watching. Rormic, on the other hand, could not stay still longer than a few minutes. "I'm not carrying you back to the cave, boy!" One of the jaguars warned. "Save your energy." Rormic ignored him and continued to run. Sakura ran after him and admonished him once she had caught up. "Relax," Rormic told her. "I used to run for days during the dry season. It is the only way we could get enough water without running into predators." If anyone else had told her that, Sakura would assume that they were either lying or greatly exaggerating but she believed Rormic. Sakura simply shook her head and stopped running to gaze at the trees. "Does the spot those jaguars took us seem special to you, Rormic?" Sakura asked. "I have never felt so… Peaceful… before." "I know what you mean," Rormic admitted. "It felt like a giant felid without any predators and plenty of grass even though it was really just a small area full of jaguars." One of the jaguars behind them gave a low growl from deep within his throat. Sakura and Rormic took the sound as a warning to be quiet. Silence descended on the four of them as they made their way back to the cave. They heard the jaguar girl's voice before they saw her standing at the cave's entrance. "Get into the cave," she ordered Sakura and Rormic. "I must speak with my brothers." The three of them spoke in grunts, barks, howls and other animalistic sounds that jaguars often made. Rormic stared at the cave's entrance with a lost and dazed look in his eye. He leaned close to Sakura and whispered what he was thinking as if he were afraid the jaguars would hear. "I think I know why that spot was so peaceful, Sakura…. That place is the pool of the Forest Spirit!" The last two words were spoken rather than whispered. Rormic stopped speaking to see that the jaguars and their girl were staring at the two of them. "What would a barbarian like you know about the Forest Spirit?" The jaguar girl asked the question as if she was accusing Rormic of something but Sakura was not sure of what that something could be. "My mother told me stories about the Forest Spirit. We live far away from here but all of the elk know about the Great Spirit." "Don't mock me!" The girl yelled so loudly that it echoed in the narrow cave. "Elk Spirit Gods do not mingle with humans. The Elk Clans fear Man! Why would they tell you about the Forest Spirit?" Rormic shivered and seemed to curl into a ball again. Anyone could see that he was terrified as he made no move to answer. Sakura felt her own fear sweep over her but that fear was mixed with anger. "Rormic was raised by the Elk Clan. His mother is an Elk Goddess and she would have told him about the Spirit of the Forest that every God follows!" "You just took him at his word? How like a human to lie to his own kind," the Jaguar-girl scoffed. "Rormic is not a human…" Sakura was not really sure how to explain what Rormic was because she was not sure herself. "He's not a God or a Spirit. That only leaves a human!" One of the jaguar's deep voices shot back. "I am me." Rormic's slightly muffled voice came from the back of the cave. "I am Rormic." The small boy from the Elk Clan took a deep breath and continued. "I am not a human." The boy's hand moved to his forehead and back to reveal two small horns that stuck out from his head. Sakura could not suppress the gasp that sounded from her mouth. Even the jaguar girl's eyes lit in surprise. The two jaguars began to growl from the cave's entrance. "What is this trick?" One of the jaguars roared at Rormic. "I'm not trying to trick you! I've had these horns for as long as I can remember." Rormic seemed more afraid than angry as he spoke the words. Sakura could not blame him – two large jaguars were growling at him after all! "Let us crunch their heads, Sen! It is obvious that they are nothing but liars." "No… I am taking them to see Timazaki tomorrow." Sen left the cave after giving her brothers a fierce stare. ~*~ Jaguars rarely fight against men but the wars they have fought in are now legends. Long ago the armies of men clashed with the Jaguar packs. The records from the war are not clear on what started the conflict; details get lost and confused over centuries of time, but the accounts do tell us that the humans discovered gunpowder and used it in the war. The Jaguars had superior numbers and stronger warriors but they were little use against guns. Magic flourished in the times before this but magic seemed secondary to fire power. The Jaguars' strength, cunning, and magic could not win against the guns but many men lost their lives before the guns were used. The nations of men feared and respected the Jaguars even though they had lost the war. No one was looking to start another war anytime soon… That is until the Dragons came. Dragons come from Kingston although they can be found in every dimension. Kingston is the only dimension that gets both the elevation and the temperature needed to hatch the dragon eggs. The dragons are born with a lizard's skin but they can shape-shift in less than ten years. Most dragons send their young to be educated among men. The dragons shape-shift so well that no human has been able to tell that their students are not all human. Sakura's friend, Rormic meets a dragon and is shocked speechless when the dragon changes into a man's shape. Dragons are dangerous because they know the ways of man but they lack morals and a lack of morals is deadly when paired with the knowledge of magic. ~*~ Dragon Short Story: Rormic sprinted forward. He assumed that he would have to whistle or stumble… he thought that he would have to do something to get the creature's attention. Rormic could not hide a surprised gasp when the monster dove toward him after he took only a handful of awkward steps. The creature's tail passed all too close to Sakura and Brad's heads. They were hiding in tall grass lying low so that no one could see them. Rormic tried to put as much room between his friends and the monster as possible. Rormic ran as fast as he could; he ran as if the whole Elk Clan was beside him but a jaguar was behind him. His steps were confident but he sped as if he was running for his life… because he was. Rormic managed to weave and bob in a figure eight motion. He could see that the monster's full attention was on him and that the monster was angry – he would have the monster's attention for awhile now. Rormic knew that this was the chance he had been waiting for. He whistled to signal his friends. It was their time to run. The dragon-monster would not turn its eyes away from him even if the two of them made more noise than a snoring Bore Demon. Rormic was so relieved that his friends would soon make it to the safety of the dense tree line near the mountains. He felt all the tenseness that he did not know that he was holding release itself. His legs though tired from running came into a renewed life. He remembered clinging to Sakura only a short while ago… He remembered feeling the same lightness when she touched him. Rormic's mind flew through all the tender moments and soft smiles he and Sakura had shared as he ran. Rormic continued to run as he had before – in a serpentine fashion. He assumed that if it worked before, it would work again. Rormic was confident and that confidence would be his downfall. He was not thinking about the dragon. Rormic's thoughts wondered in his confidence. He did not even see that the creature right behind him until a clawed foot gripped his waist like a vise. Rormic did not even notice that the creature was right behind him until a talon foot gripped his waist like a vice. He struggled and twisted in the clawed foot until he heard a scream sound from below. Brad had been hit! Rormic renewed his struggles with vigor, calling down to his friends and punching at the beast's claws. Sakura was calling out Brad's name and running to his side. Rormic could tell that Brad was hurt badly even though he was high up. He called down to Sakura, "Is he alive?" Rormic could not hear her answer. He could hardly see her form now, he was so high up. "I'm coming down to help." Rormic searched through his pockets and sleeves, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. He could not find much to use. There was nothing in his pocket but a sharp stick was attached to the bottom of his pants. Rormic took the stick in both hands and stabbed it into the creature's hand as hard as he could. The dragon screeched from the pain in his hand. His grip on Rormic loosened and Rormic wiggled his way out. Unfortunately, Rormic forgot how high up he was. Rormic began to fall through the air. Sakura and Brad looked up. They were helpless as they watched the whole thing from far away. The creature dipped down after the falling boy. Claws wrapped around Rormic's ankles only a few meters from the ground. Rormic tried to jab that creature's hand again but every time he bent in half to reach, the monster would swing him so that he could not aim. Rormic thought that he might be sick or throw up if the creature jerked him through the air again. Luckily, the dragon dipped closer to the ground and dropped him. Rormic landed with a grunt. His body ached but he tried to scramble to his feet. Rormic knew that the monster would be on him in moments but he had to try…for Brad and for Sakura. Rormic made it to his feet and tensed his body to sprint. He did not take a step before the creature's foot hit his back and knocked him down once more. "Gaah!" Rormic cried out in effort and frustration. He struggled to get out from under the monster but none of his struggles seemed to have any effect. "Calm down, human." The dragon commanded. Rormic's struggles stopped instantly. "You can talk?" He asked the monster in wonder; his voice already breathless from the previous struggle. "You humans have forgotten so much." The creature took two steps away from Rormic and breathed the steam. Rormic could not see very clearly but what he saw was shocking all on its own. The monster's form slowly shrank into that of a human. The human had long black hair that was tied loosely in the back. He wore simple clothes in a rich material. The monster-turned-human looked like he was a great warrior or maybe even a king. Rormic recovered from the shock of the change quickly enough to realize that the monster could not grip him as he had before. He took off and sprinted away from the strange human. All Rormic's focus was on moving forward so he did not see the small smile that played on the former monster's lips. He moved in a flash, moving in front of Rormic in the blink of an eye. "I would not try running, boy. I will only catch you and bring you back." The former monster reached out and held the shocked Rormic by the scruff of his neck. The larger human marched Rormic toward a cave near where they had landed. "You are making this harder for yourself." Rormic remained silent as he walked. He could see that his original plan would not work in this situation. He needed to plan but he had no information. "What do you want with me? A good meal?" Rormic tried to sound brave but he could not keep the quiver from his voice. "I assure you, I abhor the taste of humans. I will not eat you." The magic of dragons is more varied and powerful than the magic that elemental humans command. Dragons can use and manipulate the spiritual realm and the Dream World with their magic. No other species can change three plains with one spell. Making an enemy of a dragon can be equal to a death sentence. Rormic only survived because he has friends in powerful places and power of his own. Rormic's Scene: "Don't touch her!" Rormic yelled as soon as the cloth was removed. "Temper, temper, Rormic," the Master chided. "I will not be spoken to like some peasant. After all, we are all so much more than that." "What are you talking about?" Sakura croaked through her tear-streaked face. "We are all from noble births, obviously." The Master smiled as he spoke. "Rormic's parents were both royal sorcerers but they fled and died." "Why did they flee?" Rormic asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. "They feared my wrath. You see, a prophecy was made that the son of two noble sorcerers born in the year of the Bear would destroy me. He would use nature itself to fight me… I believe that YOU are that offspring, Rormic. I plan on making sure that you will not destroy me." "Go ahead and kill me. Just let Sakura go. There is no reason to keep her here." "No, Rormic!" Yelled Sakura but the gage was quickly placed over her mouth before she could continue. "You're wrong on that, Rormic. I do not want to kill you. I want to destroy you!" "What's the difference?" Rormic asked the question as if it were a demand. "Killing you will only destroy your body but to stop the prophecy, I have to destroy your soul. Killing the person that you love the most will eat you up inside until you are completely destroyed, Rormic." "I'll destroy you if you touch her!" Rormic swore to the Master with clenched teeth. The Master only laughed. He pulled out an ornate blue silver dagger. The hilt was covered with gold dragons that breathed bronze fire that ran onto the blade. Even with such beauty, Rormic saw that it would be deadly. The Master placed the blade to Sakura's throat. Rormic tensed immediately and somehow made it to his feet. The rest of Rormic's body was still pinned to the far wall but the boy fought hard to get closer to Sakura. Rormic screamed out in frustration after about five seconds of struggling. The desperation of his struggle made it seem more like five hours to Rormic. A thin red line appeared at Sakura's throat. The Master had applied pressure to the dagger but he was not yet ready to kill her – if the girl died now, Rormic would feel nothing but anger. The boy needed to see the person he loved truly suffer before he killed her… ~*~ So ends the section on volume one. The pages of this journal are full so we must move on to journal two. I cannot commit all of my secrets to paper. They would not be secrets for long if anyone could walk in and read them. To see the whole story in a safe place please read the rest in a consolidated bound version called Demons and Dragons. No one in the civilized worlds would believe that I had written such a book. The barbarous worlds that would believe would hunt me for the information that I possess. So the book was penned under a false name. Look for the title Demons and Dragons under the name Jennie Arnold. Further reading can be done through that book. The second volume of the journals of Diejed, third son of the Daemon, scribe of the middle dimensions may also interest readers and are attached here: ~**~ In Volume Two: The Eratian empire rules the whole world of Earatinel. The nation was named for their first empress, Eratine. Empress Eratine was said to be a fierce fighter and often road at the head of her armies. She is known as the conqueror of the world with a reason. Her family still runs the world and they continue to find new islands and mini-worlds to rule.